Is cooking with nonstick pans healthy or not?

Kerri-Ann asks: Do you use nonstick pans?

I like my nonstick pan but it has a spot were the nonstick has worn off, is that dangerous?

— Anonymous

11/20/2013 - 12:33pm

no I threw them all away and bought stainless steel .

— Anonymous

10/08/2013 - 9:39pm

Never.......I only use Saladmaster 316ti cookware. You really should do a bit of research and attend a dinner demonstration in your area. The health benefits are amazing, not to mention the ease of cleanup, and how fast they cook!

It is expensive but so is cancer. A person can buy,grow, organic and non- GMO,but if they are preparing it in non-stick pans, ANY kind of metal or glass, and God forbid a microwave, that person is leaching toxins into their expensive food!
Good luck with your nonstick pans......

— Anonymous

10/08/2013 - 2:00pm

I just boiled water in a non stick pot, and noticed small flecks of material floating in the water. The pot also shows `bald``spots where the shedding occurred. How dangerous is it to ingest these `flecks`

— Anonymous

08/30/2013 - 1:30pm

I think I have gotten somewhat ill from the shaving that peel off. My tongue feels sore and I have been feeling a some discomfort in my neck around my blood vessel. Every now and then the heat scorches the pot before I put in the contents and it seems to breakdown the coating and when I stir contents the shavings have come off. I have stop using the pot because the coating seems to have broken down. Is there some health risk...do I need to go to the doctor?

Best,

Burgess
3137360937
maketheworldbetter@hotmail.com

— Anonymous

04/02/2013 - 9:08pm

In response to 'anonymous', I would like to say that dishwashers usually operate at very high temperatures to sanitize the dishes properly, however, on the other hand, very high temperatures are not necessary for chemicals to leak into water sitting in disposable plastic water bottles, which need to be stored in cooled conditions and not sitting in an over-warm vehicle for example.

Also as mentioned not all non-stick pans are made alike. I have seen, and have had the misfortune, of using poorly made dollar store type non-stick pans that deteriorate too easily, the black coating comes off very easily. I have also seen others that seem to be made of a better material, not even with a coating like usual, but the prices on these are only accessible to the higher income bracket, they may be high quality, but a cast iron or stainless steel pan is excellent, more widely used and more affordable. And while the high priced variety seem very excellent quality, what assurance is their of its safety? They are so far not used as wide spread as, or as long as, stainless steel or cast iron of which we are certain of their safety in cooking foods. But these pans may be fine, who knows? Perhaps 30 years later we will learn of some safety concern, as with bottled water. Or not! Time will tell.....

— Anonymous

10/19/2012 - 10:12am

I do not use these pans anymore, there are too many factors to watch for, for their safe use. This is especially true in a family situation, if for a moment you need to leave a pan unattended, and, for example, the rice sticks, it is messy to clean up and the coating becomes fused with the food and starts to peel....personally I do not feel that we know enough about the safe manufacturing of these pans, too many of them in stores are made cheaply and deteriorate easily, for all we know the chemical could be leaking in the food we cook in the pans, similar to chemicals leaking into water in plastic bottles, sitting in the sunlight or the warmth in a vehicle on a hot day. We didn't know this until 30 years after bottled water was sold on the store shelves. And high temperatures are not needed for this to happen, the chemicals in plastic break down at relatively low temperatures.

Personally, our lack of knowledge of the product and the many examples of cheaply made non-stick pans on the shelves(many but not all) is a great turn off for me to use them to cook with or purchase.

That said, I do have an apparant excellently constructed electric non-stick wok that does not have the traditional dark black coating, it appears to be carbon-steel, a dull grey with no visible coating. But still non-stick, I don't know how this can be! I do not have the users manual and I haven't seen any pan made similar, in a reasonable price bracket anyhow. I do not use it for everyday cooking so while I can not be 100% positive about its chemical properties, I am not very worried about it as I do not use it frequently. But to me the material seems excellent, I wish I knew what it was.

A better option in my opinion is to used a seasoned cast-iron pan, or even an excellent stainless steel pan, and fry with heart healthy cholesterol reducing vegetable and nut oils containing mono-unsaturated, ie. omega 3-6-9 fats(which some people feel they need to get in capsule form).....and fry eggs for example at barely warm temperatures, this is the correct way anyhow, they usually stick & develop a brown crunchy perimeter, when the temperature is too high. This will take more time, unless the eggs are allowed to come to room temperature before cooking. These pans can also with stand the very high heats needed to pan-sear steaks for example.

Now if only those cast iron pans were made not being so heavy!

— Anonymous

10/19/2012 - 9:59am

I am very happy with what I am using. I like the flavor that my iron pans give me plus other uncoated cooking utensils. The flavor and taste are great. Easy to clean, and then I put a small amount of extra virgin olive oio. Wipe it of to leave a light coating, and I am ready to use it again later. I have tried other pans, but they cannot produce the wonderul taste that the C/Iron pans give you. Plus the wonderful aroma in the kitchen. The wonderful flavor and the food become one. You cannot do that in a nonstick pan.
But I am certain it will work for many. Ciao-4-Now.

— Anonymous

10/16/2012 - 1:31pm

Nonstic pans are widely used in the world but most of the users worldwide not able to differentiate a better nonstic pan and an ordinary one.

Thanks for the post, Kerry, but is there really a need to defend the use of PFC's in cookware? You advise against putting those pans in a dishwasher because it would be hot enough in there to release PFC's. However, what good does frying something if you have to hold the temp below that of washing dishes in order to avoid being poisoner by your cookware? I would just t.hrow those pans out and fry my food on something neutral, rather than on liver poison in the hope that none is given off, don't you agreen?